EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s Opening Remarks in Ukraine

The wind cuts through the streets of Kyiv like a blade, carrying the scent of burning wood and the distant echo of air raid sirens. Mothers pull their children closer, wrapping them in mismatched coats—gifts from strangers, charity bins, hurriedly packed bags from a life left behind. Their hands, cracked and raw from the cold, fumble with scarves, tugging them over little faces already too familiar with fear.

In a dimly lit basement, repurposed into a schoolroom, the air is thick with damp and the scent of candle wax. The teacher, once a respected professor of mathematics, now holds a half-broken piece of chalk in fingers stained with ink. She looks exhausted but in her eyes you can see that she is really happy to teach. The whiteboard in front of her is streaked with grime, its edges curling from too many hurried erasures.

She starts writing, movements are slow, deliberate, partly to feeling physically weak, partly to maintaining the feeling that this is a glimpse of normal life, this matters. The children watch her with quiet reverence, their pencils hovering over worn notebooks salvaged from backpacks with survival plans.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s Opening Remarks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen does not offer empty promises. She speaks as a woman who understands the weight of responsibility, not just in policy, but in people’s lives. “For the second winter in a row, we have fought together to keep the lights on in Ukraine,” she says. “We were worried we wouldn’t manage it. But we did.”

It is not a declaration of triumph, but a quiet tribute to the engineers who work through the night, in the freezing cold as they weld shattered power lines back together. To the volunteers navigating roads carved with craters, their trucks weighed down with generators, headlights piercing the dark. To the unseen hands that stitch a country back together piece by piece, the ones who do not seek recognition, only the fragile reassurance that somewhere, in some distant home, a lights will go back on.

The European Union has delivered 1.8 gigawatts of power to Ukraine, enough to keep homes warm, hospitals running, schools open. It is not everything, but it is something. Keeping the lights on is only part of the equation.

More than 4.5 million Ukrainians—mostly women and children—have found shelter in Europe. Their presence is felt in schools, in workplaces, in communities that have opened their doors. “Seven hundred thousand Ukrainian children are learning in European classrooms today” she says. “They are part of our future, as much as they are part of Ukraine’s.”

It is a simple statement, but its weight is immeasurable. These children do not know when they will go home. Some no longer have a home to return to. The fathers and brothers are fighting on the front lines. Their mothers– accountants, shopkeepers, teachers, live in hope at best. They translate documents, clean houses and offices, apply for jobs, constantly trying to hold on to a sense of dignity.

Von der Leyen does not stand before them as a distant leader but as someone who sees their struggle. She understands that in times of war women become anchors in a storm that shows no signs of passing. EU’s commitment to Ukraine is not just about politics. It is about true compassion and survival. It is about justice.

“There will be no lasting peace without justice” she says, reinforcing the EU’s push for a Special Tribunal to hold Russia accountable for the crime of aggression. Peace is not just about the absence of war. It is about the presence of fairness, of accountability, of dignity restored.

As President Ursula von der Leyen finishes speaking, there is no fanfare, no grand gestures. Just a quiet determination that the people living in the European Union will not turn cold on Ukrainian people. In a war fought with missiles and digital content systematically manipulated with clever disinformation, there is still a place for human connection, for leadership that does not focus on the love for power but the power of love for those she leads.

In the streets of Kyiv, in the refugee centers across Europe, in the temporary homes of families that have lost everything, this is what matters: the world has not forgotten them. The EU President’s opening remarks hold a powerful message:

Ukraine is not alone. Europe is committed to justice, security and a future where Ukraine is fully integrated into the European Union.

The European Union is fighting for Ukrainian people right to live, to learn, to hope. Europeans stand beside them, fighting not just for borders but for the right to wake up without fear, to send a child to school, to dream of a future that feels like home again. Even in the deepest winter, there is always the promise of spring.

Key Talking Points from President Ursula von der Leyen’s Opening Remarks at the College-to-Government Meeting in Ukraine

• EU committed to strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities.Ongoing efforts to ensure long-term military support.
• No lasting peace without justice. Progress on establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.
• EU provided 1.8 gigawatts of electricity to Ukraine. Plans to fully integrate Ukraine’s electricity market with the EU. Investment in renewable energy for long-term stability.
• 4.5 million Ukrainians found refuge in EU countries. 700,000 displaced children continue education in EU schools. Erasmus+ supporting Ukrainian students.
• War has deepened EU-Ukraine ties. EU committed to Ukraine’s reconstruction, stability, and integration into Europe.

Do you want to share your story and inspire our readers ? Know that  YOUR EXPERTISE is paving the way for a fairer, happier society.